‘Crypto’ thriller filmed in Port McNeill

When junkie photojournalist Jake (Harmon) takes work as watchman of a remote wilderness lodge alongside veteran handyman Sparky, he shoots and develops his own photos – which begin to reveal spectres of his haunted past and uncertain future.

That’s IMDB’s synopsis for the movie ‘Crypto’, which wrapped up shooting on the North Island in Port McNeill back in February.

With the film currently in post production, writer/director Jon Silverberg was tightlipped when asked to elaborate more on the film’s plot, but did say the movie was “a bit of a genre mix. It’s a psychological thriller with hints of horror.”

Silverberg shot basically the entire film in Port McNeill from Feb. 14 to Feb. 25 at the Hidden Cove Lodge.

“That was kind of our main setting,” he said.

He added the film had an amazing location’s manager, Randy Wilson, who has lived in Port McNeill his entire life. “He knows the area like the back of his hand, so he showed us lots of secret spots which helped us get the rugged outdoors look we needed.”

While the film is technically set at a remote fishing lodge in Haida Gwaii, Silverberg said they decided to shoot on the North Island because “it had what we were looking for without being too remote.”

Silverberg, who grew up in Nanaimo before moving to Vancouver to pursue his film career, said Port McNeill was incredibly welcoming to cast and crew. “Everyone we came in contact with was so generous, and the owners of Hidden Cove Lodge were so instrumental in our success every day. We had local student volunteers who helped out as production assistants, but we also asked them what department they wanted to work in and we tried to give them a little real world experience.”

The cast and crew worked 12 hour days in order to get the film finished, which Silverberg said was a “pretty intense” schedule to stick to.

He added he’s mainly just appreciative of everyone’s love and support who worked on the film.

“One day we had a scene that involved a rabbit and were supposed to have an animal wrangler come in, but he canceled on us at the last minute. We were desperately posting signs on bulletin boards looking for rabbit owners, and luckily we had a family come through with three pet rabbits. It’s just a sign of how great the community really is.”

When asked to sum up the production, Silverberg said it was “a very intense, epic shoot — a real grind on one level, but also an amazingly eye-opening creative experience.”